#bloodbruise
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y'all sleeping on Astarion/Lae'zel bc this moment is so...the way the flippant demeanor drops and he doesn't hesitate to call her out for sticking with her version of Cazador like their relationship is so underrated fr...
sitting down writing this bullshit like let me peel it like an onion a bit and elaborate why this pairing is fascinating to me
It's really interesting how during the most cathartic, life-altering moment in Astarion's questline, the reactions of the other companions are more about the moral wrongness/guilt of sacrificing innocent lives. Lae'zel doesn't do that and instead relates to his hurt.
She knows what's he's feeling, the lack of control, the unfairness of being powerless for too long. This is a woman who just found out her entire life purpose was built on lies, discarded and hunted by her own people after outliving her usefulness, and groomed to basically die for an insane power-hungry lich queen. She knows all too well that power isn't always real freedom. Her first instinct is to empathize with Astarion to steer him away from his hate and resentment.
Astarion/Lae'zel is so interesting to me because they're such a classic "can we make each other worse or make a better person out of the other?".
They both have genuine appreciation for violence and respect each other's ruthlessness. Astarion was used as a weapon of seduction while Lae'zel was of warfare. Sex with people is meaningless and not real intimacy for them, and while both have little understanding/experience of interpersonal relationships beyond the physical, they still feel and love very deeply. They have no frame of reference for things like friendship and warmth, but they badly want all of that and more, even if they don't know it yet.
In-game they can sleep with each other, which is basically the foundation of the normal Tav/Astarion romance. Lae'zel saw him during combat and got horny, who knows. Astarion who's used to luring people with his charms, takes up Lae'zel's blunt offer because she's a strong hardened warrior that can provide protection and be a worthy ally, and he doesn't know how to say no. Navigating the complications between one who wants to be seen beyond as a sex object, and one who comes from a totally alien culture with no concept of love/family/connections and only sex is honestly really compelling to me. It's a transactional, mutually beneficial thing with no emotional expectations. Once you get past the skeevy rockiness of their early relationship, I really like the idea of them slowly seeing something past the exterior and realizing they may have harshly misjudged the other, an unspoken friendship blooms, and in comes the realization that they are essentially loners longing for kindness and a comforting touch in the most desperate of situations.
Lae'zel is prideful, direct, has no sense of courtship talk, and doesn't hold back her thoughts the slightest--she's not sweet/agreeable and what you see is really what you get, which I imagine would be disarming for Astarion who's used to vacuous flattery and has difficulty trusting others. But she's also insanely protective, passionate, loyal, and an initiator-- every romance scene is triggered by her first and she's always showing effort towards her relationships, which would mesh well with Astarion who does need someone to nudge him.
She doesn't purposely suppress her feelings, she's just simply at loss at how to express them sometimes due to her wildly different upbringing. She stops the sparring match you agree to and an easy vulnerability slips instantly out of her: "I don't want to hurt you. I want to protect you, and for you to protect me." and "Thus far I've taunted you, devoured you, battled you. Now I want more than anything to soothe you." are romantic as fuck and Astarion of all people really needs to hear that tbh.
Astarion is also someone who struggles with reinforcing his boundaries, and a key theme in Lae'zel's romance is that she encourages and wants you to challenge her and learn to stand your ground. It's not gentlest method, but hey, relationships are about having to make an effort to learn each other's language.
I think he also would take pleasure "educating her on the matters of Fay-run" (I believe there's a whole banter with him teasing her and teaching her pet names) and would get a kick out of coaxing Lae'zel out of her shell with her shyness at showing public affection, and making her blush. Also it simply would be fucking funny to see Astarion who's used to easy seduction, trying to pass a persuasion check just to get a smooch and generally having to work to earn regular kisses from Lae'zel lmfaooo
Lae'zel also initially struggles to see her chains as chains. When she learns about Vlaakith's betrayal, she copes instantly through denial and shuts it down. Astarion is NOT having it and calls her out, he knows her well enough to recognize that she would value blunt honesty above all.
I imagine he also despises her lack of self-preservation, the way her entire identity is tied to duty and being in service of others, and doesn't understand her desire to still help/liberate the people that want her dead and are hunting her down. He wants to make this duty-bound soldier realize that looking out for herself, and putting herself first may not be the worst thing in the world.
They're so similar to each other but are also polar opposites in some ways that make a more equal, balanced romance I think. It's not a simple, one-sided, feel-good "she/he can fix her/him" fantasy because both of them have to earn each other's love, actually cut through the other's flaws, and actively motivate each other to be better versions of themselves.
They're not at all the other's ideal guiding hand. It's rough, jagged, and imperfect, but that's how healing goes. It's so far from being the healthiest relationship -- but even if their belief systems differ, their moral compass does often align. I imagine it's a slight relief for them to have a partner where there would be less shame and judgment when they expectedly, occasionally slip up and fall into their bad habits.
Also, man, the "You showed me the betweens and beyonds. Beyond war and peace, beyond passion and obsession, most importantly, you showed me freedom.", "First you were my wound, now you were my cure.", "But you saw something else in me - someone else I could be. Someone who could break the cycle of power and terror that started centuries ago.." lines really hit hard when applied to them.
Of course, they can also make each other worse, feed into the other's negative traits that will bring out the worst part of themselves. It's this duality of their pairing that is very interesting to explore, the way it can steer in either direction because it's an intense, fraught relationship at its core.
#when he gets called by omeluum “child of the dark” and her “child of the stars” like yeah..the squid man is being literal but he Gets It fr.#lae'zel#astarion#bg3#baldur's gate 3#bg3 meta#astarion ancunin#astarion x lae'zel#lae'zel x astarion#the rarest of rarepairs they dont even got a ship name...this is so tragique we need to discuss the pathos and potential of this pairing#bg3 lae'zel#bg3 astarion#also im a sucker for stoic knight/court darling trope and whatever variations of it yeah#bloodbruise
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Baldur's Gate 3 ship names so far
Astarion
Astarion x Shadowheart = Shadowstar
Astarion x Lae'zel= Bloodbruise
Astarion x Karlach= Fireblood? Icyhot? Hellspawn? Bloodengine Bloodburn
Astarion x Gale = Bloodweave
Astarion x Wyll = Wyllstarion, Bloodpact
Astarion x Halsin= Halstar, Oakblood
Lae'zel
Lae'zel x Shadowheart = Shadow'zel
Lae'zel x Karlach=
Lae'zel x Wyll=
Lae'zel x Gale= Gale'zel
Karlach
Karlach x Wyll= Hellblade, Wyllach
Karlach x Gale=
Karlach x Shadowheart= Shadowlach
Karlach x astarion= Fireblood? Icyhot? Hellspawn? Bloodengine
Karlach x Lae'zel=
Wyll
Wyll x Gale=Bladeweave
Wyll x Shadowheart=
Wyll x Lae'zel =
Wyll x Karlach= Hellblade, Wyllach
Wyll x Astarion= Wyllstarion, bloodpact
Gale
Gale x Shadowheart =
Gale x Wyll = Bladeweave
Gale x Astarion = BloodWeave
Gale x Karlach =
Gale x Lae'zel = Gale'zel
Shadowheart
Lae'zel x Shadowheart= Shadow'zel
Karlach x Shadowheart= Shadowlach
Wyll x Shadowheart=
Astarion x Shadowheart= Shadowstar
Gale x Shadowheart=
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Grantaire has a thing for Enjolras' hip bones, touching them, kissing them sucking bruises on them and gripping them hard
They just feel so nice under his hands and fit between them so perfectly, and they're now permanently marked with a bloodbruise that Grantaire has the care to darken frequently, every time he gets his mouth on Enjolras, never giving it the time to completely fade. It's been there for months now, and it makes Enjolras's knees weaken every time he catches sight of it in the mirror.
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deborah reminds me of an awful white therapist i had with the same name who refused to listen to me about adhd- well guess what deborah, u were wrong my man
the only good deborah is the one that sends my boyfriend emails about space
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happy to report that endgame lae'zel/astarion is exactly what you expect it to be: batshit battle power couple redirecting their Murder urges to nobler, heroic causes
AJDMADKSFKKF NOT LAE'ZEL BEING LITERALLY THIS MEME FOR HER VAMPIRE BF
SHE WAS FEARLESS... AND CRAZIER THAN HIM.....
#lae'zel#astarion#astarion ancunin#bg3#bloodbruise#astarion x lae'zel#baldur's gate 3#i love how both their endings are them being adventurers of some form AHHHHH#I LOVE IT WHEN MY HEADCANONS GET VALIDATED
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Astarion/Lae'zel and the inherent eroticism of two predators that are ideologically and diametrically opposed, sizing each other up to see what they have to offer. a runaway slave and a failed servant to her queen. one who's all false honeyed words and shiny performance and one who has trouble with metaphors and only knows how to be herself. it's finding honesty in killing and meeting someone who embraces you for it. it's kissing after ravaging a small village and leaving absolutely no survivors. it's recognizing yourself in the other's monstrousness, and basking in both the peace and chaos you bring out in one another.
it's hating that you let yourself get close to someone who will inevitably leave you, someone destined for something greater than you. it's hating those moments he made you want to live for yourself and abandon your duty to your people, because you know you'd never forgive yourself if you do.
it's two ageless beings just drifting in and out of each other's lives over the centuries, never managing to stay in the same place for too long, always moving toward something else. it's to carry the burden of eternal life and to remember the mark you once left on the other—always there, and never quite gone.
#the concept of two equally damaged immortal people having the weirdest situationship that spans centuries is so juicy to me srry...#I just love how the dynamic between them is even and mutual.. so much room for development and dynamics that's delicious to think abt#ik i wrote that essay abt the potential of them w/ a healthy relationship/happy ending. but LZ leaving him to save her ppl is still good#Bloodbruise#astarion x lae'zel#Lae'zel x astarion#lae'zel#astarion#astarion ancunin#bg3 astarion#bg3 lae'zel#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate iii
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the way i was mostly joking about Astarion/Lae'zel together but the concept of two equally broken emotionally repressed jerks readily accepting they're about to make each other worse...BUT accidentally end up steering each other to choose a decent path and just making each other better without completely changing who the other is REALLY GOT AN IRON GRIP ON ME :/
#bloodbruise#lae'zel#astarion#astarion x lae'zel#astarion ancunin#baldur's gate iii#baldur's gate 3#bg3#bg3 lae'zel#bg3 astarion
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